Family, friends recall NBA referee Willard

Longtime Huntington Beach resident and former NBA referee Greg Willard died Monday after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 54.

Willard was diagnosed with cancer last June before an NBA playoff game. He officiated his final NBA game, a preseason contest, in October.

"What I'll remember most about him is his love for life," said Willard's 18-year-old daughter, Shelby. "He loved holidays and he loved any celebration. He loved helping people and he lived a great life. He had so many great opportunities and he wanted to give opportunities to other people."

Willard served as an NBA referee from 1988 to 2012, officiating more than 1,000 NBA games and 100 playoff games during his career, including two NBA Finals games.

NBA superstar LeBron James took to Twitter on Tuesday to send his condolences to the Willard family.

"RIP to one of our NBA refs Greg Willard due to cancer! Prayers go out to his family and friends #NBAFamily."

NBA commissioner David Stern also released a statement on Willard's death: "The entire NBA family joins me in mourning the loss of one of our own, Greg Willard," Stern said. "Greg touched all those with whom he came in contact thanks to his extraordinary spirit, dedication and hard work. As a Finals referee, he reached the highest level of his profession while at the same time demonstrating a strong commitment to his family and his community."

NBA officials will wear wristbands or patches with Willard's jersey No. 57 for the rest of the season.

Jo Pitman, Willard's mother, said he was checked out by NBA doctors in February 2012, with some of them suggesting Willard was simply training too hard. He took a blood test before a June playoff game and was informed shortly thereafter that he had pancreatic cancer.

"I'll remember his perseverance, his honesty, his compassion, and that he loved children," Pitman said. "Even as a youngster, he played the neighborhood guidance counselor."

Pitman said that Willard was popular as a teenager and younger children often looked up to him. Willard grew up in Huntington Beach and attended Edison High School with his brother, John, who laughed while recalling his brother's knack for officiating.

"He always was a ref or umpire, for Little League or whatever," John said. "At one point, his first year out of high school, people told him he should be officiating high school. But some coaches were saying he was too fresh out of Edison, he might throw a game. They thought he was too young."

Larry Arason, former high school football and basketball official in Orange County, was an instructor of Willard's when Willard got started in officiating in the Orange County Officials Association.

"You knew right away that Greg was going to go far," Arason said. "He worked his way into becoming one of the better ones we ever had here, and he was a great guy, too."

Dan Kerins, a friend of Willard's dating back to the 1970s at Edison, recalls the first time he saw his pal on television, during a 1984 college basketball game broadcast on ESPN.

"We had a whole room of people just watching him do his thing that night," Kerins said. "He graduated to the NBA at a very young age and the amount of pride his family and friends feel for him, it's exceptional."

Willard ascended to the NBA ranks at age 29, and Kerins said Willard's integrity would have suited him to fill any officiating position in a number of the major American sports leagues.

"Greg could have just as easily been an NFL official or an MLB umpire," Kerins said. "He had that kind of ability and that mentality. It just so happens that basketball offered him his earliest break. But with him, you always knew you were going to get a fair shake."

Despite Willard's success professionally, his presence was felt throughout the Huntington Beach community, namely on Independence Day with his annual "La Cuesta Fiesta" block parties.

"The NBA is what most people know him from, but he's really impacted a lot of people's lives on a local level," John Willard said. "We all looked up to him for working in the NBA, but the things he's done in the community are greater than his career."

Pitman said Willard almost let his career pass him by because he would be required to travel on a weekly basis.

"At one point, he wasn't going to accept the NBA referee job offer because he didn't want to leave his family," Pitman said. "He knew he would have to commit to being gone a good portion of the year and not be with his family. But he made it work and made the family very special when he was home."

Willard spent his final days at his Huntington Beach home with his wife, Laurie, and children.

Willard's son Bryce, 20, said that his father still made it a point to give until the day he died.

"He gave everything to everybody. I was in the room when he passed and up until he passed, he was still trying to help other people. I was holding his hand and he couldn't move much, but he kept squeezing my hand. And the day before, he promised my mom that he wasn't going to pass on Easter. He kept his word. That's the man he was. He would never say something and not do it."

"He came downstairs on Easter day," Bryce added. "He could barely walk or talk, but he made it downstairs for us. That meant a lot to me."

Willard's memorial service will be held Monday at 1 p.m. at Mariners Church in Irvine, located at 5001 Newport Coast Drive. Family and friends ask that attendees wear purple in honor of Willard's fight with pancreatic cancer.